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I’m working on my second honeycomb piece. The first one looked amazing, and then I tried fusing the top details onto the base and it melted into a puddle of color. This is a photo of my second try before fusing. I would like those top details to nicely melt, just a little bit, into the base. The problem is that when you heat all that glass together, it must heat and cool at the same rate. If those thinner top pieces cool slower than the thick bottom, they will crack, or the whole piece will crack. It gets complicated. Stay tuned to see if I can figure out a very slow fusing schedule that will heat and cool everything to perfection.

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We have been fusing glass downstairs in the home studio since we bought our Skutt kiln in 2004. It has been a workhorse, but we are dealing with our first repair issue. We programmed it to go one night, and the screen displayed the dreaded Err1 message. I could have guessed what was wrong, but was really glad that I gave Skutt a call. Their technician was amazing, and patiently led me step by step through using a multimeter to diagnose the problem. It turned out to be a bad relay. That would have been minimal to replace, however, I thought it was good advice to purchase a whole new panel. The base they use now is much heavier, giving more heat protection to the elements. Considering the age of the kiln, I thought it a great value to purchase the whole panel for under $200.Crazy, huh? It took some time to re-wire all those connections to the circuit board, carefully following Skutt’s instructions, using their thoughtfully tagged wires.

So now we’re back in business! The fusing continues. Stay tuned for some new pieces coming out of the kiln.

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Warm weather is coming, spring is in the air, and its time for a change. This will be the last post on this particular blogsite, although I will leave it here as an archive.

When I started this blog, I enjoyed playing with the free tools at WordPress.com, and created my blog and website here. Fast forward to 2015, and my life is moving forward and expanding in many directions. Instead of being confined to the free templates of WordPress, I have immersed myself in learning how to work with custom templates, manipulating them and creating custom websites with my business partner in graphic design.

The inspiration found in writing an art blog and scouring the internet for ideas has turned into a focus into my own business of creation. I am thinking about continuing a variation of this art blog on my Rowanberry Studio home site, but will not do the research I have done here, which I love, but is very time consuming.

Thanks to those of you who have followed and those who have kindly commented. Namaste.

Have you been to Artsy yet? Prepare yourself, you could be lost for years in the intricacies and information in this site.

This is just a small glimpse of this crazy busy website. Follow your favorite artists, browse galleries, museums, fairs & shows, auctions, for sale, education… the list goes on. The site goes on. And on. And on.

So let me focus on one of my favorites – Anish Kapoor. A rep from Artsy contacted me, suggesting the new Anish Kapoor page on Artsy, and I think it’s a great thing to share, so I’m spreading the word.

Artsy is a site that takes everything to the next level. Each page could be a site in itself, and Kapoor’s page is no exception. View his artwork and read his bio. Move on to articles that present yet another dimension into the artist’s life. See upcoming exhibitions. Then take it a step further and delve into related artists.

Get lost in Artsy and have fun exploring, or bookmark it and use it as a reference. Lots of info here, and plenty of eye candy as well!

Alas, as the membership fee is a bit steep for me, (also, the society seems to be more oriented to glass blowers rather than fusers) as non-members we were only able to access the public displays at this conference.

Our main goal was to visit the Bullseye Glass booth, as I am planning to use a great deal more of their product in my own work. We had a great visit with the reps at the booth, who were very welcoming and receptive to all questions. I scored a great re-usable Bulleye shopping bag to fill with show literature and give-aways.

Next we met a few more helpful reps from Covington Engineering and HIS Glassworks. We began asking questions about coldworking equipment, but the conversation was cut short as they were leaving for the GAS gallery tour. They were nice enough to encourage us to tag along, and we quickly changed our plans to do just that. What a great decision that turned out to be, as we toured the Ken Saunders Gallery, Echt Gallery, and the Vale Craft Gallery, all located on W. Superior in Chicago.

One of my favorite pieces was by artist Steve Jensen, combining natural wood with resin and glass.

Jensen hails from Seattle, WA, coming from a long tradition of Norwegian fishermen and boat builders. He grew up on his father’s fishing boat. His artwork displays incredible range in mediums including glass, wood carving, and bronze sculpture.

This is a close-up of a piece by Harue Shimomoto that was another favorite of mine:

I once watched Shimomoto unpacking and hanging a piece at a SOFA show in Chicago. The delicate traceries of glass are hung in overlapping sections to create the full display. It was amazing to think that you can actually ship something this delicate.

Although this blog could go on for days on this topic, I’ll just include one more piece today, from Thomas Scoon:

Again, I am drawn to pieces that combine natural materials with glass, in this case, chunks of stone.

“Stone/glass/stone/glass, the two substances layered like some sedimentary strata on the side of a cliff. But, though cold to the touch, Scoon’s assemblages still echo with their igneous source; this is the stuff of magma and the core.” – James Yood, Art Critic

It was quite a memorable evening. We were completely taken in by the art displays, but also tremendously enjoyed the company of the HIS Glassworks and Covington Engineering representatives. Their observations and comments were interesting and informative.

Clement’s Venus and Sun was displayed at the Longmount Museum & Cultural Center in Longmont, CO. Her pointillism follows renowned artists Lichtenstein and Seurat. It brings to mind the artwork of Australian aboriginal artists.

Clement is pictured working on her mural “Venus and Sun” in 2012 at the Longmont Museum and Cultural Center, Photo by Lewis Geyer/Times-Call.

She is described on her website as “vivacious; and her energy, contagious!”, and looking at her colorful, flowing images certainly reflects that energy. Her paintings are composed of hundreds upon thousands of dots, and she describes her process as meditative. She draws inspiration from dreams, books, and life experiences.